The construction industry is enormous in the United States today, and countless contractor crews big and small are hard at work building today’s schools, houses, libraries, banks, hotels, and more. During a typical construction project, a number of construction teams will assemble to pool their tools, materials, and skills to complete a building. This ranges from concrete contractors to electricians, plumbers, window outfitters, and more. It may also be noted, however, that a construction zone is a place with many hazards that threaten both the human body and the delicate finished materials present. Therefore, construction workers invest in fine protective gear for both themselves and the materials of the building. Workers may use colored vests, hard hats, and respirators to keep safe, and floor protection such as masonite boards, dust barriers, protection paper shields, stucco tape, and more are used to keep walls, carpets, and wood safe during work. All of this allows a construction site to have fer fewer incidents of hurt workers or damaged materials.

Worker Protection

One may first consider the hazards to the workers themselves. A construction zone is a place of heavy loads, large construction vehicles such as steamrollers and trucks, falling objects and great heights, airborne hazards, and more. A worker might get their arms or legs trapped in a machine or under something, potentially breaking bones. Workers might slip and fall from a great height, and even a mundane accident like that may even be fatal in some cases. Meanwhile, workers might get run over by vehicles or have heavy items fall on them. Such hazards can be prevented if workers coordinate and communicate well, and always carefully watch their surroundings.

Meanwhile, airborne hazards may be present. Many harmful fumes may be in the air, such as exhaust from motors or vehicles or fumes from paint thinner or primers that may be inhaled. Another hazard is dust or particles, such as plaster dust or fine silicates. For those unaware, airborne silicate particles are far finer than sand grains, and they are created when workers crush, cut, or otherwise modify materials such as bricks or stone. If inhaled, fumes or particles like these might cause serious lung issues that call for hospitalization, and lung diseases are among the most common afflictions that construction workers face. To protect themselves, workers are urged to use surgical masks to block particles, and if need be, they may even wear face masks and respirators with thorough filters in them. In yet other cases, a full body suit may be worn to keep all harmful air from the body. These suits might be worn, for example, by workers who are using spray foam chemicals.

Material Protection

Gas masks and hard hats protect workers, but what about materials at the work site? Finished surfaces such as glass, tiles, drywall, and wood may be damaged or at least need time-consuming cleanup if they are exposed to dust, paint, glues, or other materials that they aren’t meant to contact. A mostly-complete building may have its carpet down, and carpets are known to soak up a lot of dirt and particles. This may be an issue if plaster dust is being kicked up, for example. Or, the glass panes in a window may get messy while a worker is painting the wood frames, or tiles may get liquids or plaster on them during work. At the very least, such messes require extra time to clean up, and in some cases, the materials may be damaged.

Therefore, construction crews make use of such things as stucco tape, masonite board, and more to keep surfaces clean. Masonite boards are synthetic wood boards of a sort, and these masonite board have a wide range of uses. One common use is to lay them down on top of protective papers on a carpet or tile floor during construction, and tape those boards together. This keeps paint, dust, and more off of the carpet during work. Stucco tape is waterproof red tape that’s easy to apply to narrow and thin sections of wood or other materials to keep it clean and safe. After work is done, the tape can be easily removed without residue or fuss, leaving a clean surface.